Corporate Supply Chain Lead – Project Delivery in London

• Corporate Supply Chain Lead – Project Delivery
• Contract Length: 18-24 Months
• UK RIGHT TO WORK REQUIRED
• Summary

This role will provide experienced commercial and supply chain support to the client’s Supply Chain & Project teams across major capital projects and across all geographies.

Working alongside the relevant Business Unit (BU) rather than replacing local accountability, this new role will bring deep project, contracting and technical experience to advise and assist teams in the development and execution of robust commercial and contracting strategies across the project lifecycle.

The successful candidate will act as a trusted adviser and constructive challenger, helping project and Supply Chain teams identify commercial opportunity, understand and allocate risk, make informed contracting decisions and translate project requirements into effective market and contracting strategies.

This is a hands‑on individual contributor role.

The emphasis is on applying significant project experience to support live business challenges rather than creating additional governance or process.

Success will be measured by delivering credible business outcomes with material bottom line impact and support of safe, first oil delivery dates.

• Description
• Project Supply Chain & Commercial Strategy
• Work directly with Business Unit Supply Chain and project teams to consistently develop, challenge and mature Supply Chain, procurement and contracting strategies for major project scopes.
• Bring an independent, experienced perspective to key project decisions, including packaging and bundling strategies, sourcing models, market-engagement approaches and commercial models.
• Assist teams in connecting project value drivers, technical maturity, schedule, market capacity and execution risk to the selected contracting strategy.
• Identify opportunities to use the client’s broader international portfolio, supplier relationships and market position to improve project outcomes.
• Bring external market experience and lessons from comparable projects to challenge assumptions and identify alternative approaches.
• Market Analysis, Prequalification, Tendering, Evaluation & Contract Award
• Support development and review of market engagement approaches, including Expressions of Interest, Invitation to Tender and associated commercial and contracting documentation, ensuring the commercial model and allocation of risk to appropriately execute the project strategy.
• Provide experienced guidance during pre‑qualification, market analysis, tender clarification, evaluation and recommendation for award.
• Support teams in assessing total lifecycle value analysis including technical and commercial normalisation and application of appropriate sensitivities rather than considering price in isolation.
• Bring particular focus to contractual risk allocation and execution strategy, schedule, interfaces, cost and total value.
• Where appropriate, support major commercial negotiations with suppliers alongside the accountable BU/project team.
• Contract Management & Project Execution
• Support both BU technical and supply chain teams in establishing a fit‑for‑purpose approach to post‑award contract management for material project contracts.
• Provide guidance on contractor performance, risk, change management and contractual interpretation.
• Identify emerging commercial exposures early and work with project, Supply Chain, Legal, Finance and other stakeholder functions to develop appropriate mitigation.
• Support commercial close‑out and ensure material lessons from contract execution are captured and applied to future projects and contracting strategies.
• Leverage the client’s SRM approach to management of Tier 1 suppliers to support local execution
• Claims & Dispute Support
• Provide experienced commercial and contractual support to BU teams where claims or potential disputes emerge.
• Assist teams in assessing contractual entitlement, commercial exposure, supporting evidence and potential resolution strategies.
• Help establish a clear fact base and commercial position before engagement or negotiation with contractors.
• Work closely with Legal and other appropriate specialists where matters move towards formal dispute resolution.
• Capture lessons from significant claims and feed them back into future contract strategy, tender development and risk allocation.
• Project Assurance & Constructive Challenge
• Provide proportionate Supply Chain and commercial challenge at appropriate points in the project lifecycle.
• Review key Supply Chain and commercial deliverables and identify areas where further work or challenge could materially improve project value or reduce execution risk.
• Help project teams prepare for key decision points by ensuring commercial strategy, market intelligence, contracting approach and major procurement risks are sufficiently understood.
• Work with relevant Corporate technical/project assurance specialists where integrated assurance is beneficial.
• Escalate material commercial or Supply Chain concerns where appropriate, while maintaining clear ownership within the BU and project

Critical Skills, Qualifications, Experience, etc.

The role requires a highly experienced project Supply Chain professional who combines strong commercial judgement with sufficient technical depth to credibly challenge project strategies and engage effectively with engineering and project leadership across the Portfolio.

Essential Experience

• Significant Supply Chain, contracts and commercial experience supporting major capital projects, preferably within upstream oil & gas or a similarly complex capital‑intensive industry.
• Demonstrable experience across the full contracting lifecycle, from strategy and market engagement through ITT, evaluation, negotiation and award to post‑award contract management and close‑out.
• Experience of major project contracting models including EPC/EPCI, EPCM, fabrication, installation and significant equipment or service packages.
• Strong track record of contract administration, change management and the avoidance, assessment and resolution of contractor claims.
• Experience operating in different countries and regulatory environments, with an understanding of the implications of local content, regulatory requirements, joint ventures and differing market structures for contracting strategy.
• Strong stakeholder‑management skills with the credibility to work directly with senior project, technical, Supply Chain, commercial and functional leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to challenge constructively, influence without formal authority and build alignment across multiple stakeholders.
• Strong commercial judgement and negotiation capability.
• Excellent communicator and ability to coach and embed the deep Supply Chain Projects content required across all BUs.
• Highly Desirable
• Deep technical understanding of major energy‑project delivery.
• Experience across both offshore and onshore developments.
• Experience across several major project categories such as FPSO/floating facilities, subsea/SURF, offshore facilities, onshore EPC, pipelines, drilling and wells.
• Experience working for either operators or major contractors/engineering organisations, providing an understanding of commercial issues from both purchaser and supplier perspectives.
• Experience supporting complex claims, disputes or major contractual negotiations.
• Personal Attributes
• Comfortable operating as a senior individual contributor and subject‑matter expert.
• Pragmatic and delivery‑focused, applying judgement rather than process for process's sake.
• Confident in challenging established thinking while maintaining strong working relationships.
• Comfortable moving between detailed contract/commercial issues and the wider project strategy.
• Curious and able to quickly understand unfamiliar technical scopes and markets.
• Effective across multiple cultures, geographies and leadership levels
• Prepared to spend time with Business Units and project teams rather than operating primarily from Corporate.
• Continuous improvement mindset while retaining and developing best practice external benchmarks 7 perspectives.
• What Success Looks Like
• High quality project contracting strategies, with clear linkage between project value drivers, technical requirements, market conditions and commercial models.
• Early identification and mitigation of commercial and Supply Chain project risks.
• Strong ITTs, robust evaluations and supplier‑selection decisions, with clear and defendable commercial rationale.
• Improved management of material project contracts following award, particularly around change, performance and commercial exposure.
• Effective intervention and support where contractor claims or disputes emerge.
• Greater transfer of project Supply Chain experience and lessons between Business Units.
• BU Supply Chain and project teams viewing Corporate Supply Chain as a value‑adding source of expertise and challenge, rather than an additional layer of governance.

With over 90 years' combined experience, NES Fircroft (NES) is proud to be the world's leading engineering staffing provider spanning the Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables, Chemicals, Construction & Infrastructure, Life Sciences, Mining and Manufacturing sectors worldwide.

With more than 80 offices in 45 countries, we are able to provide our clients with the engineering and technical expertise they need, wherever and whenever it is needed.

We offer contractors far more than a traditional recruitment service, supporting with everything from securing visas and work permits, to providing market‑leading benefits packages and accommodation, ensuring they are safely and compliantly able to support our clients.